H.R.5882 Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2013, 112th Congress

Sponsor:
Ander Crenshaw

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H.R.5882 has been viewed 3,612 times on OpenCongress.org, a free, non-partisan resource.

PPF Talking Points

Congress is lagging far behind current standards on data transparency, and I believe this lack of transparency makes corruption easier, public participation more difficult, and generally limits accountability for the people we elect to make our laws.

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Congress is lagging far behind current standards on data transparency, and I believe this lack of transparency makes corruption easier, public participation more difficult, and generally limits accountability for the people we elect to make our laws.

The Republican House leadership pledged to usher in a new age of government transparency. Anything short of opening up the legislative databases will be seen as a failure to live up to the pledge.

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The Republican House leadership pledged to usher in a new age of government transparency. Anything short of opening up the legislative databases will be seen as a failure to live up to the pledge.

I oppose H.R. 5882 in its current form because Congress should publish bulk legislative data.

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I oppose H.R. 5882 in its current form because Congress should publish bulk legislative data.

Specifically, I'm asking for all the data that is published on THOMAS to be made available for download so that citizens and web developers looking to use this public information can do so without having to visit thousands of individual websites. This simple improvement in how Congress handles its data is necessary if progress is to be made on using the web to improve the democratic process in America. The potential for positive social change in open government data can hardly be overestimated. This is one of the key structural, democratic reforms of our time, and handling data that belongs to the public according to the standards of the most ubiquitous public communications platform (i.e. the internet) is just the proper thing for our public officials to do.

Clicking this will add the following text:

Specifically, I'm asking for all the data that is published on THOMAS to be made available for download so that citizens and web developers looking to use this public information can do so without having to visit thousands of individual websites. This simple improvement in how Congress handles its data is necessary if progress is to be made on using the web to improve the democratic process in America. The potential for positive social change in open government data can hardly be overestimated. This is one of the key structural, democratic reforms of our time, and handling data that belongs to the public according to the standards of the most ubiquitous public communications platform (i.e. the internet) is just the proper thing for our public officials to do.

There is no legitimate reason, either technical or insitutional, why data from the official government website THOMAS should not be available to the public in bulk.

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There is no legitimate reason, either technical or insitutional, why data from the official government website THOMAS should not be available to the public in bulk.

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Most-commented sections of the bill text

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Highly Rated Blog Articles

Government Policy: Legislative Branch: FY2013 Appropriations
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July 11, 2012
by
Alerts
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The bill, H.R. 5882, was reported by voice vote. The Rules Committee reported a rule for consideration of the bill, H.Res. 679, on June 6, which was agreed to the following day. On June 8, 2012, the House considered H.R. ...

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As noted by Alerts on July 11, 2012, "The bill, H.R. 5882, was reported by voice vote. The Rules Committee reported a rule for consideration of the bill, H.Res. 679, on June 6, which was agreed to the following day. On June 8, 2012, the House considered H.R. ..." (/url?q=http://government-policy.blogspot.com/2012/07/legislative-branch-fy2013.html&sa=U&ei=g6b-T-HAIuHi2QWihfy6BA&ved=0CEQQmAEwCQ&usg=AFQjCNHOsrzgJEzEobJP4X6WEkVPviarwQ)

As noted by admin on June 21, 2012, "Heck voted against the 2013 Legislative branch appropriations bill, H.R. 5882, on the grounds that it did not cut enough. For calendar year 2011, Rep. Heck returned almost 10% of his office budget to the U.S. Treasury. A USA ..." (/url?q=http://centerrightnv.com/heck-introduces-bill-to-protect-the-american-taxpayer/&sa=U&ei=HI_lT9e4AofC2QX58rTbCQ&ved=0CEYQmAEwCQ&usg=AFQjCNE6TJJWdKx2OzOnNKxKz4KtZI-eWw)

Highly Rated News Articles

ROLL CALL
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June 17, 2012
by
Tulsa World
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Paul A. Gosar, R-Ariz., to the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act (H.R. 5882). The amendment would cut funding for the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington by $1.2 million. Gosar said: "While the Botanic Garden is a wonderful attraction ...

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As noted by Tulsa World on June 17, 2012, "Paul A. Gosar, R-Ariz., to the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act (H.R. 5882). The amendment would cut funding for the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington by $1.2 million. Gosar said: "While the Botanic Garden is a wonderful attraction ..." (http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/articlepath.aspx?pg=news&articleid=20120617_11_A9_WASHIN315928)

How they voted
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June 15, 2012
by
Chicago Sun-Times
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Paul A. Gosar, R-Ariz., to the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act (H.R. 5882). The amendment would cut funding for the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington by $1.2 million. Gosar said: “While the Botanic Garden is a wonderful attraction, Congress must ..

Clicking this will add the following text:

As noted by Chicago Sun-Times on June 15, 2012, "Paul A. Gosar, R-Ariz., to the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act (H.R. 5882). The amendment would cut funding for the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington by $1.2 million. Gosar said: “While the Botanic Garden is a wonderful attraction, Congress must .." (http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/13209597-418/how-they-voted.html)

Can Americans handle government transparency?
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June 13, 2012
by
Examiner
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H.R. 5882 is a bill that is designed to limit the amount of information the Federal Government gives to the people of America. Why would they need to do this? What is it that Congress needs to hide from the people they are supposed to serve? There are a ..

Clicking this will add the following text:

As noted by Examiner on June 13, 2012, "H.R. 5882 is a bill that is designed to limit the amount of information the Federal Government gives to the people of America. Why would they need to do this? What is it that Congress needs to hide from the people they are supposed to serve? There are a .." (http://www.examiner.com/article/can-americans-handle-government-transparency)

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